Picture this: It's a late night in your petite painting studio. Uncertain about the composition, you step back to get a greater field of vision, and knock over your paint palette onto a freshly primed canvas. Your brain, addled by a day of coffee and starvation, has lost the connection to your body. You respond by wildly flinging your arm out hoping to prevent the disaster and, instead, effectively knock your fresh coffee all over…

It took me a little while to realize this, but prepping canvas has always been a great way for me to ease myself into a new series.

Beginning a new artwork series can be a nebulous cloud of anxiety and excitement: What will I do and how on earth will I do it ? The options are endless and seem to stretch out before me in an endless tirade. It’s overwhelming to say the least, and in this state it's quite common that I'll find many…

I remember a friend showing me how to scan my images at art school. For convenience sake, he quickly titled the files while we worked. He came up with them on the spur of the moment - they were funny and quirky and revealed much of what I knew of his personality (he is a very funny guy). These titles changed the feeling of looking at the images and offered a new way to connect with the work. This valuable experience showed me…

There have been moments where I thought to myself, if things get more intense I might just go mad! But I tend to be the type of person who can really put myself into a pressure cooker of expectations. The more I accomplish, the higher the bar gets raised - it's enough to drive a drama queen a little mad. Sometimes I just want to put on sweatpants and do nothing,…

Commissions are tricky. And unless you have been thorough you might end up working "on-spec". This means that you create a commissioned work, and then, once it's complete, the client views it and decides whether they will purchase it or not. Ouch! This can be a truly unholy, rude awakening. With equal parts foresight and clear communication in written or verbal form, you can effectively ward off evil and reassure yourself that your…

OK, I'll shamefully admit that I used to gleefully abandon old, crusty paint brushes. Visions of buying brand new brushes (in all shapes and sizes) danced through my head. Buying new art materials is always fun, isn't it? However a case can be made against this attitude:

There is nothing worse than having great images for your Facebook page, but having the dimensions all wrong. Getting it right will keep your Facebook presence looking super sharp and professional. You can even get into Photoshop and create a cover photo that highlights multiple artworks. If you are prolific, this will have quite an impact.

With great excitement, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Artist Run Website blog!

What's more exciting than blasting off into the inner-space of creativity! Each week we will bring to you inspiration, tips & techniques, and insight into the issue's facing today's contemporary artist.

Your guide to the final frontier of art-making will be Artist-in-residence Rebecca Chaperon.